HS2’s supporters fear cancellations and delays as austerity looms

In Britain's darkening economic climate, the expensive high speed rail project looks like an obvious target for further cuts

At first glance, the scarred earth in central Birmingham where HS2's future Midlands terminus will stand has not changed greatly since 2018. Back then, before another Tory party conference, transport secretary Chris Grayling donned a hard hat to affirm that work was up and running, in front of bulldozers specially hauled in for a Sunday shift.

Now, with the government set on fresh spending cuts, the vast outlay on the high-speed rail line has been called into question again as inflation bites. Facts on the ground will matter once more - and while the sweeping viaduct and new station at Birmingham's Curzon Street exist only in CGI form above ground, foundations have been laid beneath.